Is it a good idea to do this?

by A.L Star
27th December 2011

So far I've written 8 chapters of a book which I want to make around 18 chapters long, and I was thinking of looking up publishers or agents now, but would it be better to wait until the book it almost done, or finished all together?

Replies

To add to the good advice you've already had, you'll probably get to the end of your eighteen chapters and want to revise what you've written.

Getting your work submitted is not a race, so give yourself as much time as you need.

Well done on the first bit of your writing, and good luck with the rest!

29/12/2011

well said tony,

Antoinette concentrate on your writing all the best for that.

Zohaib

http://phoenixlegionofficial.blogspot.com/

Profile picture for user Zohaib Ahmed
Zohaib
Ahmed
1280 points
Practical publishing
Fiction
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Gothic and Horror
Middle Grade (Children's)
Picture Books (Children's)
Romance
Adventure
Speculative Fiction
Self-Publishing
Autobiography, Biography and Memoir
Creative Writing and Publishing
Zohaib Ahmed
28/12/2011

Hi Antoinette,

As tempting as it is to start looking at publishers and agents that you think are suitable for your book now, I would urge you to wait.

Your novel will almost certainly need to be re-drafted (it is incredibily rare for any author to write a novel straight down in its completed form), and if you are spending time researching agents and publishers, you are not spending time finishing your novel (which is what the agent/publisher will want to see.)

Also, the research done now, could act as an anchor weighing you down as it will often seem far away. Your task is the completed novel first.

My advice to you would be to 'aim for the target, not for the prize.' You'll finish the novel before you know it if you focus on this task and then you can enjoy the process of finding an agent and publisher, knowing that you have a finished product that is as good as it can possibly be. If not all that time researching will be wasted as they will certainly reject it.

I hope that this isn't too dispiriting and that you find the strength to finish your novel.

Best of luck and keep me posted on how you are doing.

Tony

Profile picture for user inagoodl_4067
Tony
Williams
330 points
Ready to publish
Film, Music, Theatre, TV and Radio
Poetry
Short stories
Fiction
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Adventure
Autobiography, Biography and Memoir
Comic
Media and Journalism
Business, Management and Education
Speculative Fiction
Popular science, Social science, Medical Science
Practical and Self-Help
Historical
Gothic and Horror
Sports
Tony Williams
28/12/2011